Identification of essential oils with antimicrobial activity and their effect on Staphylococcus aureus

Identifier:  TFG:3005

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TFG3005

Authors:  Pérez Cantero, Helena

Abstract:
The increase of antibiotic resistance is a current problem of great clinical and economic impact, with a marked incidence in nosocomial infections. As a result of the prolonged and indiscriminate use of antibiotics, new types of resistance have emerged in microbial species, among which Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most important. Due to the low effectiveness of current antibiotics and the absence of new effective formulations, there is an urgent need to find new antimicrobial drugs that can replace ineffective antibiotics. In this sense, one of the main fields of research is focused on the search for compounds with antimicrobial activity from essential oils of plant origin that may constitute an alternative to commercial antibiotics. In this work, a review is proposed on the effect of different essential oils on S. aureus and the main advances in this field. A wide variety of plant species are known whose essential oils have demonstrated antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, but little is known about the mechanisms of action on the bacterial cell. This paper summarizes the main postulated mechanisms of action and offers a comparison of the promising results obtained in vitro against S. aureus of essential oils with antimicrobial action. Among the main activities of essential oils is the antimicrobial effect on S. aureus or their modulating action on antibiotics when both products act synergistically, by enhancing their effect. However, essential oils have certain weaknesses that prevent their effective consideration as alternative clinical therapy, which is why a review is also included of the main alternatives for improving the chemical stability of these compounds and promoting their controlled release, through encapsulation with nanomaterials.